Sunfall

And if the wrong artwork on the cartridges weren't enough of a sign these are fakes, take a closer look at some of the features on them. -The NIntendo logo looks off--the font does NOT look like that normally. -There is no product number printed on them. -The Sacred Stones cartridge is laughably fake. See that ESRB logo on the upper left corner? I've never seen one printed there on any GBA cartridge. BUT, take a closer look. What's that I see underneath the title? It's the ESRB logo from the box art!

Ursula's avoid also shoots up big time (an extra 20 pts) when she loses the Bolting, in addition to being much more difficult to double attack. It takes 25 Speed to double against her when she's using Elfire, as opposed to only 15 when she is carrying Bolting--plus she can't counter when she has Bolting, meaning once you actually get within melee range, she's as good as dead if you swing something supereffective against her. Approaching her is not as hard as it looks; with enough defense the mercenaries surrounding her shouldn't hurt much, and a Barrier Staff/Pure Water helps tremendously with surviving Bolting when it does hit. Not to say this is the best strategy, but I prefer not to fool around with counterattacks and dodgy hit rates when give the opportunity to avoid them.

This petition is just absurd. You are honestly expecting Nintendo to spend even more time on localization just to include a few more same-sex support options exclusively for western releases? For something that comprises a very minute portion of the game that everyone is blowing out of proportion? Not that I'm against gay marriage or anything, but the way people talk about these same-sex supports makes you think their exclusion would be a grand dealbreaker to what has shaped up to be one of the most amazing Fire Emblems to date.

The Rescue Staff is found in this very chapter, and if you're really quick about rushing the right side of the map (the bulk of your army should take this side), you can handle it off to Priscilla or Pent after you loot it from the chest. Assuming Zephiel hasn't moved west or south of where he starts, Pent should be able to pick him up from the treasure room. That will at least keep Zephiel under control while you worry about defeating Ursula. Jaffar is quicker to reach thanks to fewer enemy units along the way, though you should consider using an anti-cavalry weapon if Maxime is proving bothersome. Once you have him, kill the thieves, then quickly bring Jaffar to the rest of your army before the reinforcements overrun you. Depending on how many enemies are present on the map, you may just want to kill off Ursula quickly to stop the flow of reinforcements before they get out of hand. She's pretty easy to kill with anti-cavalry weapons if she's still carrying Bolting--just shore up your resistance with Pure Water or a Barrier Staff and you should have no problems tanking it as you defeat her Mercenary guards. Nothing else to say, other than I hope you've got several strong mounted units at your disposal. If not, this is a very frustrating HHM chapter, rivaled only by Cog of Destiny in terms of how many wills it has crushed.

Nohr already gets quite a few Dark Mages, and if any of the revealed details on weapons are an indicator, I would not be surprised if Nosferatu received some heavy nerfing along with stuff like Brave weapons and Hand Axes/Javelins. With that said, I am leaning towards either Outlaw or Wyvern Rider. Outlaw because it never hurts to have another lockpicker besides Zero (who may not be worth bringing all the time, who knows), Wyvern Rider because it's Wyvern Rider, I always expect them to be great unless the maps are teeming with bows and wind magic.

I've been looking forward to the Nohr campaign ever since the two versions were announced, and nothing has changed my stance on that. If anything, the character dynamics of the Nohrians have only further convinced me to stick to the Nohrian path.

I've never found Isadora to be anything more than "meh" in the runs that I used her. She's not awful, but there are much better picks for mounted units. Maybe I try too hard to discredit Marcus, but unless you strip him of his weapons, even an Iron Sword will allow him to one-round bandits in the starting chapters--which is not good when your units could really use those early level-ups. Jeigans certainly have their uses, killing enemies shouldn't be one of them unless you really need their power, or just want to clear the stage fast. Perhaps "gamebreaking" was the wrong word to use in regareds to Luna. But it is definitely a very effective ways to damage most bosses, as well as annoyingly resistant units in general since it ignores resistance, is quite accurate, and has good critical potential too. I would definitely not pass up something like that. And since you plan to use Nino, be prepared to do some babysitting. Assuming you go into the gaiden chapter following her recruitment, you must take extreme precaution around the siege tomes and pegasus knights--they're actually quite brutal for her. The chapter after that is easier to work with thanks to the chokepoints and overall low resistances among the enemies. And of course, make sure you have a Guiding Ring leftover to promote her.

As someone who used to make entire armies out of captured enemies when I played Disgaea games, I am looking forward to doing the same in this game, even if their stats and level-ups might disappoint me in the end. I at least want to do that once.

Most people say avoid Fighters because you have to get lucky with their growths for them to be stellar units, and given their low starting levels, they are highly vulnerable to being RNG-screwed. Dorcas, for example, tends to really slack in the Speed department while Bartre might not get the Skill he needs to offset the lower accuracy of axes. That's not to say they can't be good, as I've had some amazing Bartres in a few playthroughs, but if you want a consistently good unit in your army, look elsewhere. Dart, on the other hand, can be really good if he manages to get a few points more in his Skill. Just make sure to find the Ocean Seal or you won't be able to promote him. Hawkeye is an acceptable replacement if Dart is too much trouble for you to raise. Most elitists would say avoid the Myrmidon/Swordmaster class, but I'd say they're fine if you're trying the game for your first time. They dodge like maniacs and are pretty much untouchable to axes once their Speed gets really high, their only letdown tends to be in their low Strength, but the Swordmaster critical boost tends to make up for this. Mercenaries/Heroes, on the other hand, are much more balanced characters that can be counted on for more than just dodging axes. Archers start with rather poor base stats and have really wishy-washy level-ups, and Rath is only a little better by virtue of having a horse. Much like Fighters, Archers can be good if the RNG works in your favor, but if they aren't gaining much after several levels, you might just wnt to forget about them and hope the Nomad doesn't disappoint. All of the Cavaliers can turn out good in my opinion, but there is the issue of limited Knight Crests to go around, so I would only pick whichever one is turning out the best growths for you. Isadora is meh, and Marcus is your Jeigan, don't ever give him experience and just let him secure villages. Oswin is one of the few good Armor Knights in the Fire Emblem series, but he needs a Knight Crest to promote, which means you might have to give up a Paladin to use him for the later game. That said he's not bad at all if you don't mind his lower movement. Magic users are definitely a must, the question is which ones to use since there are a limited number of Guiding Rings to promote them, and it's not only mages/monks/shamans that can use them, but also your staff healers too. I'd recommend Priscilla for your healer, unless you are carrying over Serra from Lyn's mode and you find it too much trouble to get the other healer up to speed. For offensive magic, all of them are fine choices, though Canas gets access to the gamebreaking Luna if you feel like cheesing some annoying opponents down the road. Note that all promoted magic users can use staves, and can serve as backup healers. Pent is also a very good prepromote Sage if you really like having lots of magic users around. Pegasus Knights require a lot of care to use early on, as their damage is weak starting out and their evasive ability isn't yet developed. You must keep them out of reach from brigands and especially archers, and only let them attack for the killing blows to help them level up faster. Early on they might feel like a liability, but once enemy magic users start to become a thing starting with the ship chapter, they will begin to show their true usefulness. The Wyvern Rider Heath, like most others in the series, is very good when trained up from his rather low starting level. You will need a Thief for several chapters in this game, not just for unlocking doors and chests but also for Fog of War vision and stealing valuables off of some enemies and bosses. Matthew gets the job done early on, but I prefer using Legault once he shows up because my Matthews often gets screwed by the RNG. I wouldn't recommend promoting either of them to Assassin since they cannot steal after promotion and Jaffar is already a very good Assassin. As for the Dancer... use her or don't, it's up to you. Just be aware she is very frail and can get killed easily by flying units or long-range weapons if you aren't paying attention. Yeah, I kinda went overboard, but I wanted to be more comprehensive.

I've played so many games with female leads lately that it has simply grown on me--so yes, I will be creating a female avatar...as soon as the game crosses the ocean in six months or whatever.

Maybe it's just because I never play through Lyn's Tale anymore (really, I just want to jump into the main campaign), but I almost always end up using Lowen in the long term. At worst, he usually ends up being a decently tanky unit with a horse. I only use Kent or Sain if Lowen goes several levels through the beginning with very few stat gains. I always have terrible luck with Binding Blade's cavaliers aside from Allen, and even then I'm only using him for his movement; most of my foot units are just plain better combatants. It's been a long time since I've played Sacred Stones, and I remember the cavaliers there being decent. Not bad by any means, but nothing really outstanding. Plus there's the fact Seth exists....

Funds is only ever a concern if you are using more than a full deployment limit's worth of units--this should never be an issue once you have settled on your final lineup. From there it is just a matter of stealing the valuable stuff whenever it shows up and hanging onto it. Experience is simply how much experience you have gained throughout the entire game--there is no differentiation between levels gained by basic or promoted classes. If you ever find your Experience rating slumping, just bring someone into a chapter that can gain lots of experience from kills, provided that they won't be too much of a liability for the chapter. Linus or Lloyd first only really matters if you have any intentions of using Geitz; HHM bonuses actually make him pretty decent. but if you don't need him, you can go ahead and shoot for the Lloyd chapter if you want.

Well, according to another thread (one of the Dengeki discussions I believe), the children characters--along with whatever means they used to bring them into existence along with the rest of your army--will have no bearing whatsoever on the plot of this game. I must say hearing that does give me some relief knowing that their existence won't dampen the plot, and that they are purely an optional element of Fates.

At the most, I would just like to find out how the chapters pan out gameplay-wise after the game releases in Japan. I don't intend to look into the dialogue or story premise of these battles, not that I would even understand what those moonrunes are telling me in the first place.